


Just a Normal Test Where Nothing Could Go Wrong

by saeriibon



Category: Lancer (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Mecha, Military, graphic depictions of burning/burn wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27678683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saeriibon/pseuds/saeriibon
Summary: i wanna play lancer so badly, but i'm too stupid to learn another rpg system. so instead i'll just write random backstory stuff about my hypothetical lancer pc.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Just a Normal Test Where Nothing Could Go Wrong

<< Command to Seventeen. Can we get a status update? Pleeease and thank youuu. >>

<< Seventeen to Command. Everything is green… so far. >>

<< Rodger dodger. Setting up video feed now. >>

The glass in the command room flickered before the portrait of a young man appeared. 

He had a stern expression despite his age, blonde hair cut short, and a large ‘17’ branded onto the left side of his face.

Likewise, the viewport in the young man’s cockpit also flickered, giving him a view of most of the personnel and equipment that were monitoring him.

Though the many rows of desks outfitted with terminals, only a few people were actually in the room. The man recognized the operator who spoke to him, seated (more like slumped) at the foremost desk. Beside him stood…

<< C-Commander Lawrence, sir! >>

The young man immediately tried to salute, forgetting the fact that his body was harnessed in his seat. A few lights on his headset flickered as he felt his mech try and imitate his motions, although it too was held in place by a series of metal scafolding in the large, empty training room.

<< There’s no need to be nervous, Seventeen. >>

Lawrence’s voice steadily echoed through the comms.

<< Remember, this is just a benchmark. Follow protocol and everything will be fine. >>

<< It _better_ be fine. Not to put the pressure on you or anything, but we technically only have one shot to do this so- >>

<< I think he gets the idea, Malcolm. >>

The bespectacled man seated at the front desk shrugged.

<< _Sure_ , sure… Anyways, for this next test, we’re not allowed to tell you _exactly_ what will happen, the surprise is the whole point, but if you feel like stopping it at any point, you can use your neurolink to abort the whole process, no penalties or nothin’. >>

Seventeen furrowed his brow.

<< May I at least know the nature of the test? >>

Malcolm looked towards Lawrence, who gave a slight nod.

<< It’s a stress test, plain and simple. >>

After a few moments of silent contemplation, Seventeen’s voice came through.

<< Understood. Ready when you are. >>

Malcolm turned to a couple of the people seated at the desks behind him, giving a thumbs up before Seventeen’s visual feed went dark. On his viewport, a series of command prompts began to pop up.

> INITIATING BENCHMARK TEST B.2.1

> STATUS: GREEN

> COUNTDOWN IN…

> 3…

> 2…

> 1…

>

Seventeen blinked. The text cursor remained blinking on an empty line for a minute, then two, then three.

“Seventeen to Command. Do you copy?”

His only reply was the ambient hum of the mech’s machinery.

“ _I suppose… this is the test then? Analysis of the effects of isolation on the mind, maybe?”_

Eventually, the lights in his cockpit flickered off, as if his mech automatically deactivated from spending too much time remaining idle.

“... _This is fine. Just focus on breathing, like before._ ”

Seventeen closed his eyes and inhaled, holding for a moment before slowly exhaling.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale. _Inhale._

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale. _Exhale._

His eyes flicked open, “W-who’s there?”

Even though the cockpit wasn’t large enough to fit two people, there was definitely… something or someone else with him now, their breath ghosting around him.

“S-Seventeen to Command. There’s-”

He stopped himself. “ _No. I musn’t waver now. This is all a part of the test._ ”

<< O, Child of Light, be not afraid… >>

Seventeen looked around the empty space as the voice seemed to speak from around and within, even coming out of the intercom. A voice that certainly was not Commander Lawrence or Doctor Malcolm. He gulped, “Who is this? How did-”

<< From the womb we all came and to the womb we will all return… >>

As soon as those words were spoken, Seventeen found himself, unbound, standing in a familiar plot of land. The desert wind ruffled his hair as if in welcome, kicking up harmless spores from the patches of sand morels that grew beneath his feet. Off in the distance, the thin grey line of the containment barrier could be seen, surrounding him and the plain, square buildings of his unit’s dormitories.

“ _I’m… here again? But… Union already…”_

He sighed, feeling fatigued as the triad of suns bore their rays into his back.

“ _Was everything a dream then? No, this place is a dream… How did I get here? I have to go back and finish the test...”_

“Is this… the womb?” He spoke to the endless green sky. “Please, answer me. I don’t have time for th-”

He doubled over, clutching the brand on the side of his face as it began to burn as fresh as the day he got it. Gritting his teeth, he staggered back to his feet, “F-fine… I’ll go along with this. This pain is noth-” 

The burning soon spread from the brand, crawling to cover his body like a wave. Skin began to bubble and peel as pale flecks became indistinguishable from the sand morel spores. A small voice in the back of his mind was begging him to stop, as if he were responsible for the agony being inflicted upon him. “ _No. I will not yield. I must…_ ”

The burning had made its way to his spine after eating past layers of skin, frying the nerve endings and causing him to collapse in the sand in the process.

“... _I must persevere… I made a promise to him… I will keep it…_ ”

* * *

Lawrence looked out of the command room’s window down to where Seventeen and his mech were. He squinted, noticing how one of the support scaffolding’s arms was beginning to turn… white? The air around it shimmered and distorted itself from the… heat. He snapped his head towards Malcolm, “Stop the test.”

There was a moment of hesitation before a begrudging “Yessir…” was uttered. However, that disappointed look slowly became one of confusion, then awe as Malcolm simply stared at his terminal, mouth slightly agape as Lawrence made his way over. 

“Doctor Malcolm, what is happening in there?” Commander Lawrence shook the dazed man’s shoulder as various windows on his terminal began turning red.

“I-I… I don’t know, sir. This is something we’ve never seen before… Something's stopping us from terminating the test. I- Woah!” Malcolm gripped the arm rests of his chair as it was wheeled away by one forceful push from Lawrence who unlocked the comms system.

“This is Command to Seventeen. Use your neurolink to abort the test immediately.”

One of the scientists in the back poked her head out from behind her screen, “Sir, we have to get the subject out soon or else we might lose the pilot and the frame.”

“You can’t activate its eject system?”

“I’m afraid any control we’ve had has been overwritten, sir.”

“Then we’ll do it manually.”

Everyone in the room looked at Lawrence as he made his way to the elevator, a nervous laugh coming from Malcolm.

“W-with all due respect, I don’t recommend doing that… The ambient temperature is getting to a point where even being within a foot of the mech will- W-wait, what are you doing?!”

The doors to the elevator had already slid shut with Lawrence disappearing behind them.

Malcolm pushed up his glasses and sighed, “Get the trauma team ready. We’re gonna be in for a mess at this rate…”

* * *

Despite the already swift descent, the elevator couldn’t be fast enough. Lawrence was already pushing himself through before the doors could even open fully, a blast of heat disheveling his coiffed, black hair and ruffling his uniform’s capelet, which he tore off with annoyance as he ran towards the mass of steaming metal. He heard an unnatural groan mix with that of the bending bars and twisting cables that surrounded it, as if the mech itself was in pain. Its spindly, white limbs tensed every so often, like an animal having a nightmare.

Lawrence didn’t bother using the ladders provided to reach the top of its head, the fabric of his clothing becoming singed as it made contact with the writhing thing. He dug his hands into the gaps of its plating without hesitation, pulling pieces apart as his own limbs creaked in protest. No matter, he can always get new ones again.

After a few, long and grueling moments, he finally uncovered the flesh-like interior where Seventeen’s cockpit was situated.

* * *

<< We wanted to have more fun, but all good things must come to an end. All things must come to an end… >>

The desert melted away, but the burning still felt very real. Seventeen blinked as he fought back the haze overtaking his mind. It was so dark. He heard a sort of rumbling sound off in the distance. ‘ _I’m dying aren’t I? I’m sorry, Commander Lawrence. I couldn’t…’_

Suddenly, there was a flash of light above him. He felt his harness loosen as his body was yanked upwards by a familiar but crumbling pair of plasteel hands. Blinded from the lights above, he could barely make out the silhouette that loomed over him. “Commander… Y-your arms...” 

“Don’t speak. You’re going to be alright, just hang in there.”

The whir of the emergency ventilation system had kicked in at this point, bringing the room to a more comfortable, but still hot, temperature. Compared to being in the mech, however, it was freezing. 

“C-cold…” Seventeen muttered before everything went black again.

Lawrence sighed as Seventeen went limp in his arms, loading him onto the trauma team’s gurney once it arrived. He followed them back into the elevator, going up past the command room to the medbay’s floor.

As the team filtered out, Lawrence stayed behind a little, pressing a button on his earpiece, “He’s not ready yet. Resume training with the Everest frame and…” he watched the trauma team round a corner out of view, “... Figure out the exact details of that Pegasus’ acquisition. I don’t want another person touching that thing until its source is verified… I’m just thankful the Ushabti didn’t go off...”

* * *

* * *

“Wah! Tennor, he’s awake!”

“About time…”

Seventeen blinked and looked over, another face almost pressing into his, “Hey, Milly…” was all he could croak out.

“Yay! He remembers my name! Guess your brain’s not totally fried, huh? Oh, oh! Do you remember Tennor’s name?” Milly looked back to the other figure standing a few feet away.

“What’s the point of asking that if you’re gonna give the answer anyway?” 

Milly grinned and leaned back, “Tennor’s just mad because you got to try out the new frame before him.”

“Why would I be mad about not getting put in a hospital bed?”

Milly put a hand up to her mouth and stage whispered to Seventeen, “He’s really, really, mad- OW!” Milly flinched as Tennor’s fist came down on her head.

Seventeen sighed as the two started their usual bickering again. It’s usually comedic, but right now… “I just want to be left alone.”

Tennor and Milly stopped, turning to look at him. “Oh… O-okay…” Milly mumbled.

Tennor was about to protest, “But I want to know what ha-”

“Agent Millard, Agent Tennor.”

“Wah!” Milly jumped and spun around, both her and Tennor, and even Seventeen in his seated position, saluted towards Commander Lawrence as he entered the room.

“While I appreciate the concern you have for Agent Seventeen’s wellbeing, what he needs right now is rest and, more importantly, peace and _quiet_.”

“M-m-many apologies, sir!” Milly made a series of profuse apologies as she and Tennor left the room.

Seventeen tried to sit up more as Lawrence approached, “I ought to apologize, too. As their team leader I-”

“It’s alright, Seventeen,” Lawrence placed a still dented and partially melted hand on his shoulder to lie him back again.

Seventeen looked at Lawrence’s prosthetics and winced, “No, no it’s not alright. The test… All of the money and resources we lost because of my pride… I-I could’ve stopped it! I could’ve stopped it, but-”

“Seventeen,” Lawrence spoke sternly, “What happened was something beyond everyone’s control. Besides, no loss of money, resources, or frames can ever compare to the loss of a pilot.” He looked down at his hands, “And don’t worry about these, they were in need of a replacement anyways, so…” Lawrence sighed and pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket, handing it to Seventeen, who promptly used it to dab at the tears that began welling at the corners of his eyes. “Don’t go apologizing about crying either.”

“You’re not gonna tell Milly or Tennor?,” Seventeen sniffled.

“I have no reason to and even if I did, I wouldn’t.”

“Thank you, sir…”

Lawrence smiled and ruffled his hair, “I know I said you needed rest, but I do need to know some details of what happened during the test, if you don’t mind speaking while your memory of the event is still fresh.”

“O-of course, sir. I don’t mind at all.”

“Perfect,” Lawrence pulled a chair up and sat in it, taking out an audio recording device as well, “We’ll start from the beginning...”


End file.
